Home Office

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police-instigated disclosures relating to (a) women and (b) men have been made under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme in each police force since the introduction of that scheme.

Norman Baker: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Individual police forces are responsible for collecting information relating to the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.As part of its commitment to take forward the recommendations arising from the report published in March 2014 by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary "Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse", the Home Office is taking forward proposals to develop national data standards that enable consistent and comparable data on domestic abuse to be collected by the police and submitted as part of the Annual Data Return from April 2015. We also plan to evaluate by the end of the financial year how roll-out of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme has been implemented, and we will be working with the police to collect data on the number of national disclosures to support this evaluation. In addition, the police are incorporating the Scheme into their action plans setting out how they are taking steps to improve their approach to domestic abuse.

Arrest Warrants

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she gives to UK police forces on using the European Arrest Warrant in respect of people against whom there is no evidence an offence has been committed under UK law; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: Operational matters are the responsibility of the Chief Officer of the police force concerned.

Wales Office

Conditions of Employment

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff the Wales Office employs on zero hour contracts.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office does not have any staff employed on zero hour contracts.

Official Engagements

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which official engagements have been held in the Wales Office in the last three months.

Stephen Crabb: Details of all official ministerial engagements are published on the Wales Office website every quarter.

Northern Ireland Office

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive about measures to bring the level of car insurance premiums in Northern Ireland in line with those in the rest of the UK.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: This issue has not been raised with me.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investigating the private motor insurance market across the UK and is due to report its conclusions shortly. Early in its investigation, the CMA considered the Northern Ireland motor insurance market and did not find signs of a failure of competition specific to that market.The CMA noted that a number of recent initiatives in Northern Ireland could have an effect on premiums, including a new arbitration procedure for smaller claims and a graduated driving licence aimed at reducing the riskiness of young drivers.Government measures have already removed a number of unnecessary costs from the system in England and Wales, and we are implementing further reforms to tackle exaggerated whiplash claims, inducement advertising by solicitors and fraudulent insurance claims. The Government fully expects the insurance industry to continue to meet their commitment to pass on the savings from Government reforms to their customers through lower premiums.

Department for Work and Pensions

National Insurance Contributions: Northern Ireland

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that people in Northern Ireland who were 14 and 15 years of age in 1947 and who paid national insurance have these contributions recognised in their pensions.

Steve Webb: National Insurance contributions are now an excepted matter and the responsibility of HMRC. However in relation to pensions, Northern Ireland has its own body of law which operates in parity with Great Britain.Following the fundamental reforms of the National Insurance scheme in 1975 the law provided that only paid contributions and credits from the year in which a person reached age 16 to the year before the one in which they reached state pension age should be included for benefit purposes. The Government has no plans to review the position reached by Parliament in 1975.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of (a) single, (b) two-person, (c) three-person and (d) four-person occupancy standards for accommodation cabins in the offshore oil and gas industry on (i) the health and safety of offshore workers and (ii) operational safety on offshore installations.

Mr Mark Harper: None. Standards of cabin accommodation are examined by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive on a case-by-case basis. Inspectors will consider compliance with the specific requirements relating to cabins, during inspections and safety case assessments. These will also include examination of other health and welfare provisions for workers, emergency escape facilities and other safety provisions that could be affected if cabin occupancy arrangements change.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which statutory safety tests the Health and Safety Executive apply to an application from an operator in the offshore oil and gas industry for an increase in the occupancy rates for accommodation cabins on installations in the North Sea.

Mr Mark Harper: The statutory requirements for offshore sleeping accommodation in the UK offshore sector are laid down in the Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc) Regulations 1996, Regulation 12, Schedule 1, paragraph 61. “Any room designated as sleeping accommodation (a) must not be overcrowded; (b) must contain adequate space for the occupants to store their clothes; and (c) shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be occupied only by such number of persons as is consistent with reasonable privacy and comfort, having regard to the features of the room.”

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what changes have been made by the Health and Safety Executive to accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers on installations in the North Sea in the last three years; on what grounds the decision was made to approve such changes; and on what dates those changes were made.

Mr Mark Harper: There have been no changes to statutory accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers on installations in the North Sea in the last three years.The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) removed the requirement for operators to seek approval before making changes to accommodation arrangements from 1st April 2014.This decision was taken to ensure that notification arrangements did not constrain development and growth or prevent operators from staying on top of maintenance backlogs, including maintenance of safety critical equipment.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions (a) Ministers in his Departmant and (b) the Health and Safety Executive have had with trades union representatives on accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers on installations in the North Sea.

Mr Mark Harper: DWP ministers have not had any discussions on offshore accommodation standards with trade union representatives.HSE has had a range of discussions regarding accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers with trades union representatives, including at a meeting of the Offshore Industry Advisory Committee on 08 October 2013.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions (a) Ministers in his Department and (b) the Health and Safety Executive have had with representatives of Oil and Gas UK on accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers on installations in the North Sea.

Mr Mark Harper: DWP ministers have not had any discussions on offshore accommodation standards with representatives of Oil and Gas UK.HSE has had a range of discussions regarding accommodation standards for offshore oil and gas workers with representatives of Oil and Gas UK, including at a meeting of the Offshore Industry Advisory Committee on 08 October 2013.